The Csonka was a Hungarian

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured by

János Csonka János Csonka (22 January 1852 in Szeged – 27 October 1939 in Budapest) was a Hungarian engineer, the co-inventor of the carburetor for the stationary engine with Donát Bánki, patented on 13 February 1893. Life Csonka, self-educated in ...

(1852–1939) in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

from 1909 until 1912. Csonka had previously designed some small vans which had been made by the large Ganz company but in 1909 he set out on his own and made a few one-off cars. In 1909 the first series production car was introduced which had a single-cylinder engine and was the first Hungarian car to have

shaft drive A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. This was followed in 1911 by a larger 8 hp water-cooled model. Fourteen were made. Most cars were built with two-seater bodies and circular

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

s. Csonka left car making in 1912 and returned to working at

Budapest Technical University The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public university, public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country ...

. Based on the patent of

Karl Benz Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automo ...

, in 1893 Csonka and his colleague Donát Bánki improved and developed the world's first modern

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...

Gallery

File:Csonka János egyhengeres autó.jpg, 1909 roadster File:Csonka János autó.jpg, 1910

panel truck A panel truck (also called a panel delivery or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body. It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area. The term was first used ...

File:Csonka János tricikli.jpg, 1900

motorized tricycle A motorized tricycle, motor trike, or motortrycle is a three-wheeled vehicle based on the same technology as a motorcycle, and powered by an electric motor, motorcycle, scooter or car engine. Classification Depending on the design of the vehic ...

File:Csonka transaxle 1908.JPG, 1908

transaxle A transaxle is single mechanical device which combines the functions of an automobile's transmission (mechanics), transmission, axle, and differential (mechanics), differential into one integrated assembly. It can be produced in both manual tra ...

References

*David Burgess Wise, ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''. Car manufacturers of Hungary Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Hungary 1912 disestablishments in Hungary 1909 establishments in Hungary Manufacturing companies established in 1909 Disestablishments in the Kingdom of Hungary (1867–1918) {{motorvehicle-company-stub